Leaving PharmD program for MD

[Lambda5]

Hi all,

I just started my first year of PharmD at a top 10 school, but I've realized over the last year that I really (*really*) want to go to Med school instead. I've never been so psyched about my future before! But now I need a plan.. Has anyone else been through this? Should I stick the year out in school or drop and study full-time for the MCAT and focus on volunteering and pt. contact? It is not too late to drop my classes with no penalty.

My situation is a little unusual. My BCPM is 3.66, Overall 3.22, AO 2.66. The low numbers are due to incomplete classes when I was young. In the last 51 credits of undergrad I achieved a 4.0 and brought my scores up significantly.

I got a 97 percentile on the PCAT and I think I could get a good MCAT score with some serious study and review.

What do you guys think my chances of getting in for 2014 could be? I'm also wondering if I should try to take the MCAT on sep 11th and consider applying last minute for 2013.

I would appreciate any feedback!

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[SnowyRox]

As in less than a week of Pharm classes?

It looks bad to leave partway through a professional program. What makes the MD school think you won't do the same thing to them?

 

[Cuongoff]

You just started your first year at pharmacy school...but you've known for a year since last year that you wanted to pursue medical school, why did you matriculate into pharmacy school in the first place?

 

[MedPR]

Hi all,

My situation is a little unusual. My BCPM is 3.66, Overall 3.22, AO 2.66. The low numbers are due to incomplete classes when I was young. In the last 51 credits of undergrad I achieved a 4.0 and brought my scores up significantly.

I got a 97 percentile on the PCAT and I think I could get a good MCAT score with some serious study and review.

What do you guys think my chances of getting in for 2014 could be? I'm also wondering if I should try to take the MCAT on sep 11th and consider applying last minute for 2013.

I would appreciate any feedback!

Zero.

 

[solitarius]

obvious troll...

 

[Catalystik]

Hi all,

I just started my first year of PharmD at a top 10 school, but I've realized over the last year that I really (*really*) want to go to Med school instead. I've never been so psyched about my future before! But now I need a plan.. Has anyone else been through this? Should I stick the year out in school or drop and study full-time for the MCAT and focus on volunteering and pt. contact? It is not too late to drop my classes with no penalty.

My situation is a little unusual. My BCPM is 3.66, Overall 3.22, AO 2.66. The low numbers are due to incomplete classes when I was young. In the last 51 credits of undergrad I achieved a 4.0 and brought my scores up significantly.

I got a 97 percentile on the PCAT and I think I could get a good MCAT score with some serious study and review.

What do you guys think my chances of getting in for 2014 could be? I'm also wondering if I should try to take the MCAT on sep 11th and consider applying last minute for 2013.

I would appreciate any feedback!

You can see the historical odds of acceptance for All Applicants with various stat combinations here:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=888650

The recent steep upward grade trend would improve your odds. Applying without the usual and customary ECs and strong LORs would significantly lower them. Applying while in a PharmD program with the intent to drop out is not going to help you, as med schools don't like to poach from other professional programs.

 

[omare61]

You have severely reduced chances regardless of how high your MCAT score is. Medical schools want people who are devoted to medicine and they don't just change their minds so quickly.

Also, what is the reason you changed your mind and want to be a doctor? You will be asked this in interviews--no doubt.

2 sides in how I see this (portrayed through classic angel/demon dialogue):

DEMON: But Honestly, if you changed your mind because you think you have more potential to be competitive in medical school and become a doctor without desire for the field--just leave this thread now! You think you can score good on the MCAT and that is your driving force to be a doctor. You just want to be better than everyone and pharmacy is not enough, is it? Pathetic...

sorry for the harshness

ANGEL: During your pharmacy school education, you realized you had more of an interest in the part of medicine that fully understands diseases and recognizes their treatments rather than recognize diseases but full understand their treatment. Go ahead and apply to medical school and tell them how pharmacy school changed your perspective in medicine and healthcare and showed you that you can make more of an impact as an MD and that medicine rather than pharmacy really compliments your professional values

Good luck bro, I say stick with pharmacy regardless because I don't think medicine will give you satisfaction. I think your type of people just get bored easily of anything and require constant motivation-like me (I get bored quickly of even the things I really enjoy-hobbies, video games, tv)

 

[ScutmonkeyNJ]

Just get a PharmD first and then apply for med schools. Pharmacy is too closely related to medicine for you to just switch out like it's nothing. Pharmacists are doctors, too.

You won't get into a med school as a class of 2014, I can guarantee that.

 

[Morsetlis]

It's a bit too late now if you haven't taken the MCAT. Sure, there's hope, but if you really want to do it, prepare for the 2015 application cycle (starting June of next year).

Whatever you do, don't both go to pharm school AND study for the MCAT

 

[ScutmonkeyNJ]

It's a bit too late now if you haven't taken the MCAT. Sure, there's hope, but if you really want to do it, prepare for the 2015 application cycle (starting June of next year).

Whatever you do, don't both go to pharm school AND study for the MCAT

Why not? It's very possible to do both. My school forces pharmacy students to take the MCAT after their 2nd year.

 

[Morsetlis]

Why not? It's very possible to do both. My school forces pharmacy students to take the MCAT after their 2nd year.

Those pharmacy students must be smarter than I am...

 

[ScutmonkeyNJ]

Those pharmacy students must be smarter than I am...

I'm not implying anything, lol. I'm just saying that it's possible for pharmacy students to study for the MCAT while they're enrolled in PharmD program.

 

[Lambda5]

As in less than a week of Pharm classes?

It looks bad to leave partway through a professional program. What makes the MD school think you won't do the same thing to them?

You just started your first year at pharmacy school...but you've known for a year since last year that you wanted to pursue medical school, why did you matriculate into pharmacy school in the first place?

I should have said that I've become increasingly unsure of Pharm as a career over the last year. I've become much more certain over the last couple months that what I really want to pursue is medicine. Perhaps I should have dropped out earlier, but I didn't really know what to do. After all the time and energy I put into getting to this point I guess I've just been afraid to really face the facts until recently.

You have severely reduced chances regardless of how high your MCAT score is. Medical schools want people who are devoted to medicine and they don't just change their minds so quickly.

Also, what is the reason you changed your mind and want to be a doctor? You will be asked this in interviews--no doubt.

2 sides in how I see this (portrayed through classic angel/demon dialogue):

DEMON: But Honestly, if you changed your mind because you think you have more potential to be competitive in medical school and become a doctor without desire for the field--just leave this thread now! You think you can score good on the MCAT and that is your driving force to be a doctor. You just want to be better than everyone and pharmacy is not enough, is it? Pathetic...

sorry for the harshness

ANGEL: During your pharmacy school education, you realized you had more of an interest in the part of medicine that fully understands diseases and recognizes their treatments rather than recognize diseases but full understand their treatment. Go ahead and apply to medical school and tell them how pharmacy school changed your perspective in medicine and healthcare and showed you that you can make more of an impact as an MD and that medicine rather than pharmacy really compliments your professional values

Good luck bro, I say stick with pharmacy regardless because I don't think medicine will give you satisfaction. I think your type of people just get bored easily of anything and require constant motivation-like me (I get bored quickly of even the things I really enjoy-hobbies, video games, tv)

Just get a PharmD first and then apply for med schools. Pharmacy is too closely related to medicine for you to just switch out like it's nothing. Pharmacists are doctors, too.

You won't get into a med school as a class of 2014, I can guarantee that.

I realize that my situation sounds a bit ridiculous, and I can see how I might have come across as a little crazy or impulsive. This whole situation is causing so much anxiety that I've barely been sleeping since orientation started two weeks ago. It kills me that I'm taking up a spot in an amazing Pharm.D program that I don't really even want to be a part of anymore; not only is there an unlucky pre-pharm who didn't get in because of me, but I might be jeopardizing my own future in healthcare.

With that said, I can't change the past and I'd like to make the best decisions that I can in the future. A full Pharm.D seems like a terrible waste of $175k and everybody's time/energy if I'm only using it to go back to med school. At this point I'm planning on staying with the program (at least for half or all the academic year) and continuing to volunteer. I'm going to spend time shadowing and try to get as much direct pt exposure as I can. This would give me most of a year to sort things out and work on a 2014 application.

omare61: Thanks for your input. I don't believe that I'll be bored with medicine. I'm also not driven by some notion of being "too good" for pharmacy. With more experience I've realized that I really want to have the knowledge and day-to-day experiences of an MD! Some pharmacists have great jobs, but I want to be the one actually seeing, touching and otherwise interacting with patients as my primary career focus. I don't want to spend the rest of my career in retail pharmacy or doing med-reconciliations in front of a computer screen in the hospital.

I hope this helped explain my situation a little better. I've spent a long time preparing for pharmacy and I realize that this is a relatively quick change in direction. I'm 26 y/o and am excited to get started on my career, but I'm willing to spend the time it takes to really prepare for med school. Do you think I'm on the right path by staying in the Pharm program for the time-being? I'm in an uncomfortable situation, but my seat can no longer be filled this year and I'm not really sure what good alternatives I have.

 

[sw22430]

really give this thought.. i know it's a hard decision but try to weigh what's important to you in a career...

 

[lightfire22000]

Just get a PharmD first and then apply for med schools. Pharmacy is too closely related to medicine for you to just switch out like it's nothing. Pharmacists are doctors, too.

You won't get into a med school as a class of 2014, I can guarantee that.

I think he meant to ask for applying to medical school for the class of 2018 that starts work in 2014.

No, no, in the eyes of physicians as well as the general public they aren't doctors. It's illegal for pharmacists to use the doctor title in most settings in several states for instance.

More and more people view pharmacists as an antiquated relic that's grossly overpaid and grossly over-educated. The pharmacy profession and schools have been duping a lot of people into thinking they're perpetually high-paying professions.